Johannes Brahms once wrote….”Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed swaying in the wind”…

The inspiration for this painting began 300 years ago in a violin maker’s workshop in the small town of Cremona Italy…

The painting is about Antonio Stradivari and his 1721 Red Mendelssohn violin, “The Red Violin”…

It’s about his craftsmanship and his search for perfection in creating string instruments of exceptional tonal quality….

Hidden from public view for over 200 years… The Red Mendelssohn was once owned by the family of composer Felix Mendelssohn… It became more popular in 1998 due to the film… The RED VIOLIN by Canadian filmmaker Francois Girard who was greatly inspired by the violins obscure, 300 year history…

In 2012 I had the pleasure of meeting Classical violinist, Elizabeth Pitcairn…in the small town of san Miquel de Allende, Mexico …I later learned the story of how Ms. Pitcairn came to own the Red Violin, when her grandfather had purchased it at Christie’s of London in 1990 and gifted it to her when she turned 16…

As I listened to Ms. Pitcairn play this exceptional violin, my imagination carried me to another time……another space…

This painting, which I call “ART & MUSIC” is a dedication to Stradivari’s craftsmanship and for having given us the gift of inspiration. It is also dedicated to Ms. Elizabeth Pitcairn who inspired me to paint it, but also to all the musicians over the last 3 centuries whose lives were enriched for having had a connection with this beautiful little Violin.

Thank You…Michel St-Jean….Dec 5th 2015

Biography

Michel St-Jean A.O.C.A. January, 2015

Associate of the Ontario College of Art (1968) majored in design, advertising/marketing. Completed a post graduate study at Harvard Graduate School of Design…Has attended several painting workshops at the Alberta School of Art in figurative drawing and painting …

He has been painting for over 50 years in Oil and Watercolour mediums and carried out many field painting excursions in the Alberta Rockies, The high Arctic, The Northwest Territories, The Upper Ottawa valley, Algonquin Park, The Niagara escarpment, and various locations across Canada as well has in India, The Himalayas, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Mexico, The Mojave desert in Arizona, California and the Caribbean…

His work is exhibited in several corporate, public and private collections in Canada, England, and the U.S.A.

Michel’s current body of work demonstrates diversity of subject in representational “Classical Realism” including portraiture and figurative art as well as landscape and still life. He also gives drawing & painting workshops in Classical Realism in his studio located in Peterborough, Ontario and will accept commissions.